Stop Blaming Twitter
August 14th, 2012
Joe applauds Tampa Bay Times Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud for what perhaps is the most outlandish Bucs analysis of the decade.
In a story on Gerald McCoy, Stroud wants us to believe that McCoy’s change in social media habits is evidence he’s a more driven football player.
If anything, McCoy’s sunny disposition has been confused for something else. You can’t live soft and play hard. That has been the popular refrain regarding McCoy.
This season, he seems even more focused. He has 30,000 followers on Twitter but has posted only one tweet since June 25.
Where does Joe begin with such nonsense?
Maybe if Michael Clayton had cut back on texting he would have caught more passes. Perhaps Facebook is what kept Stylez White from a 10-sack season. Surely, it was video games that led to Geno Hayes’ inconsistency.
Stroud knows sending a Twitter message takes less than one minute. If McCoy wants to sit on the toilet and rip off a handful Tweets while delivering a movement, Joe’s quite confident that has nothing to do with football focus and performance.
August 14th, 2012 at 10:28 am
I respectfully disagree, Joe.
No more tweeting is one of the best things GMC can do for his game, and the Bucs.
He played well last week, and I am hoping for more of the same.
I don’t care if he tweets, I just prefer he tweets after doing something awesome on the football field (a Buc’s win, a 2 sack game).
I truly believe that by not participating in social media, he allows for greater focue and concentration on becoming a STUD football player.
Go Bucs.
August 14th, 2012 at 10:40 am
If social media was so evil, then Schiano would have told his players to stop. THat’s obviously not happening. Maybe Twitter maniac Adrian Clayborn can teach McCoy tough guy Tweeting. 🙂
August 14th, 2012 at 10:44 am
@SteveK Thinking like that is just idiotic.
Yes, if he was posting at all hours of the day.
But to say it’s a distraction to spend 15 minutes posting on Twitter after a long 14-hour day at One Buc Place? THAT affects his focus?
Surely you should stop posting on JoeBucsFan, it probably affects your focus from whatever your day job is.
August 14th, 2012 at 10:53 am
I thought Schiano forbid tweeting/texting during practice and games?
During those instances I understand…but I agree with Joe overall. Tweeting does not affect performance…unless it happens while you are supposed to be performing.
That’s like saying GMC should not talk on the phone because it would cause problems in his game later.
August 14th, 2012 at 10:55 am
I’ve consistently lost much respect for Stroud’s articles …. his articles are not impressive to me, just my opinion.
August 14th, 2012 at 11:02 am
Being as injury prone as he is, he probably tore a thumb muscle while twittering!
August 14th, 2012 at 11:07 am
twitter is for just that…..FOLLOWERS. He’s not learning from twitter, and it is a waste of time onless he is going for reality TV. Just one more distraction out of the way. sounds good to me.
August 14th, 2012 at 11:17 am
stevek:
If Twittering is such a menace, how come it has not affected Adrian Clayborn, who perhaps Twitters the most of any Bucs player?
Joe has not been in meeting rooms with the Bucs but Joe will lay cash that smartphones are banned during meetings. Joe can assure you that players do not have smartphones with them during practices.
August 14th, 2012 at 11:37 am
Stroud lost ALL credibility as a sports reporter when he was so blatant in his siding with Rich McKay when he & Gruden had their falling out and McKay went to Atlanta.
Stroud then went up to Atlanta and had dinner with McKay and his family at McKay’s home to give us what he said was the TRUTH about the entire situation. Credibility? Stroud has ZERO in my book!
August 14th, 2012 at 11:41 am
Glass McCoy has finally shut up. I like Schiano’s new rules. Twitter is only available for players that produce and stay healthy. Adrian Clayborn has done both.
August 14th, 2012 at 11:50 am
“Vic says: “If social media was so evil, then Schiano would have told his players to stop.”
I think its the United State’s Bill of Rights (1st amendment) that’s allowing players freedom of expression.
August 14th, 2012 at 11:52 am
there are new rules about social media, at least that is what espn nfc south analyst said in his report that included the new dress code, let me see if i can find it
August 14th, 2012 at 11:52 am
This is total non-sense. McCoy has a right to tweet all he wants to. As some of you said as long as its not during the time he should be putting in work to become better then there is nothing wrong with it. It amazes me how people bash him and say they cant stand him talking so much but yet read every single thing he puts out on tweeter… Its actually laughable.
August 14th, 2012 at 11:53 am
and its not a restriction on free speech if its voluntary, (aka if you want to work for me dont do this ) you can quit and speak freely about anything you want. You can negotiate away your freedoms, aka i will work for you, i understand that i waive my right to own a gun.
think about spies. do you think THEY have free speech? how about white house aides?
August 14th, 2012 at 11:54 am
Joe,
Clayborn would Tweet about “Being angry and eating healthy”.
I am not sure what GMC would tweet (Not on Twitter).
Bottom line, if an athlete with LOFTY expectations fails to perform consistently, then his every move will be scrutinized.
I don’t care if he tweets, I just hope this young man’s play does the talking.
I don’t hear Clayborn running his mouth/thumbs on social media. What sticks out to me about Clayborn was that nast hit on Matty Ice. I hope GMC has a few of them this year. 🙂
August 14th, 2012 at 11:58 am
SteveK:
You are all over the map. You claim you know what Clayborn Twitters then you state you are not on Twitter and then claim you have no idea what Clayborn Twitters?????
Is GMC allowed to go out to dinner? That eats up 10-times as much clock as a few Twitters a day — if GMC even Twitters that much.
Maybe you should be on Twitter. Then you will realize that Twitter is not Satan’s Tool the way you think it is.
The notion that GMC’s play deteriorates because of Twitter is about as outrageous of a thought as Joe can concoct.
August 14th, 2012 at 12:05 pm
Anyone foolish to believe Twittering would in ANY way affect football performance is a twit.
August 14th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Exactly Bobby, it has ZERO effect on football.
It has 100% on perception.
I want to see/hear/read about GMC and Co. kicking butt on the field.
I can care less about the twitter twatter.
GMC looked good against the Phins, and I am excited for it.
August 14th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
sorry for not being able to find the article i was looking for, i thought it was yasinskas… but he has NO mention of bucs dress code that i could find… maybe the article was removed
i dont know. but i did read that somewhere that there are now new rules under Schiano regarding twitter and stuff, and i was listed along with the dress code, as schiano putting his handprint on the team or something.
August 14th, 2012 at 12:18 pm
GMC looked very average against the Phins. I didn’t see him using his “horns” at all. I did see him miss a couple arm tackles.
He did make one tackle.
August 14th, 2012 at 12:24 pm
I agree that Twitter shouldn’t cause player’s poor performance, but I can see that maybe there is a correlation between the two. Maybe GMC believed that he had too many distractions with Twitter being one of the many. He stopped those distractions and therefore elevated his game. Because we only see the decrease in tweets, we wrongly assume that this is what causes the increase of assumed focus.
In the education world, you would say there is a positive correlation between less tweets and more focus but lack of evidence to support that one caused the other. 🙂
I do have to say that I dropped Facebook for a week and I’ve noticed a quite large improvement in my productivity and time available. While providing a couple of tweets a day in itself isn’t time consuming, but it can be if you stay and read others, view links plus post replies. I don’t know where GMC stood in time that he participates in all of Twitter so I’m not going to make assumptions about his previous lack of focus.
August 14th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
Dan:
Schiano is not a Twitter fan and encourages his players not to Twitter (Raheem Morris did the same — gasp!) but he cannot forbid them from Twittering like college coaches can, partially because the NFL encourages the interaction players have with fans.
Joe does know, however, the Twitter postings are closely monitored by the Bucs front office, and even Adrian Clayborn had a very dry line about that once.
Eric Wright, Tiquan Underwood, Da’Quan Bowers, E.J. Wilson and Clayborn Twitter all the time.
Funny. Bowers hasn’t done squat with the Bucs but lives on Twitter. Yet he gets a pass and GMC gets crucified for it.
My, the hypocrisies of some people.
August 14th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
@SteveK….Who’s perception??? Never bothered me. I would have to think your perception is very limited if you are silly enough to think someones activities on a social media affect your attitude toward them as a football player. “He tweeted 50 times this week! My God….no sacks on Sunday for sure…” I mean….c’mon man!!
August 14th, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Thans for the Clarification, Joe!
August 14th, 2012 at 12:32 pm
No problem Dan.
The NFL does have a rule that players cannot Twitter during a specific window before and after games. Joe believes it is 45 minutes before/after, but not certain.
Chad MuchoStinko has been fined for violating this rule.
August 14th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
In any profession it’s usually best to establish your bona fides, before you start running your mouth whether it be face-to-face or electronically. Even the irrepressible Warren Sapp largely kept quiet until he had done something in the NFL to establish his bona fides.
For Gerald McCoy, his injuries were unfortunate as without them he may have established his bona fides by now. Equally unfortunate, however, is the fact he started tweeting before establishnig those bona fides.
As Joe points out, in McCoy’s defense, he hasn’t tweeted since June. If that’s the case it’s probably a good move on McCoy’s part. Once he lives up to the promise of a $60+ million contract then he can tweet whatever he wants, within the bounds of civility.
August 14th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Bobby,
I don’t believe Tweeting and Sacks have any correlation. I just prefer to see Buc W’s, and highlight reel D. I don’t care about the social media nonsense.
Joe,
I firmly believe Bowers gets a “pass” bc he was injured before the draft, and he was the 52nd overall pick. We picked Bowers KNOWING about the injuries, and that is the ONLY reason he fell to us. (Bowers injuries are just as unfortunate, but there may have been a lesser expectation put on him then on GMC).
GMC has a harder rout because of his draft status, and the success of a DT taken one pick prior. Also, one of the greatest DT’s ever, Warren Sapp, played in Tampa. GMC didn’t have an injury “history/concern” when he was drafted from OU.
I really liked your piece with Simeon Rice. There is a new era in Tampa. Sapp, Brooks, Lynch, Rice, Barber (in his prime): are all gone.
August 14th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
Rick:
Oh, Sapp was a loudmouth from the first day he stepped in Tampa.
The first time Chris Thomas, then sports anchor at WFLA, tried to interview Sapp, he was basically told to f’ off.
To turn Chris Thomas against you — even as a rookie — one must have gone crazy to pull that off.
August 14th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
Hey Joe… big fan here.
I think that there is some truth to the Twitter/Focus belief. Honestly, Twitter is a distraction. It’s what I do during meetings to pass the time between dull speakers. I think that McCoy might have taken the mindset that if he has time to TWEET, he has time to look at film, or do some curls, or coach up his new DT partner.
Case In Point: when I was studying for my Life, Health, and VA exam, I took a week off from work and CRAMMED for a solid week. I did not shave, drink, watch movies or television, for the entire week. My thinking was that if I had time to do ANY of those things, I had time to re-read a chapter. I had a job offer PREDICATED on my passing on the first (and only) shot…. and I passed.
Good for McCoy. I met him at the mall this summer and he was a helluva nice guy. Hope the lack of Tweeting turns into sacks.
August 14th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
Joe here,
@Adam – By your and Stroud’s logic, we would have to somehow believe McCoy is a less focused football player if he sends out 4 or 5 tweets every night. Joe just can’t buy into such nonsense.
Would Josh Freeman spending less time at the gun range mean he’s more focused on studying film? If Davin Joseph stops collecting elephants will he be more dialed into his craft? Next somebody will say Father Dungy would have a Bucs super Bowl ring if he didn’t read the bible so much. Dan Orlovsky has triplets, perhaps he spends too much times changing diapers to be focused.
August 14th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
This article included Gerald McCoy and bowel movements and Thomass hasn’t commented yet???
August 14th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
Adam:
You actually believe Schiano allows smartphones in meetings?
Is GMC allowed to have internet access at home? How about a TV? Or perhaps, can he have a radio? Maybe a newspaper subscription?
Is a library card too evil?
By your definition, all distractions.
August 14th, 2012 at 1:26 pm
To Tweet or not to Tweet…that is the question.
Stupidest discussion EVER!!!
Twitter affecting how players perform on the field is beyond any realm of realism!!
GMC needs to stay healthy and produce this year…PERIOD. The discussion should end right there.
August 14th, 2012 at 2:05 pm
So before most here call the kettle black , how many (and don’t lie) tweet or text on company time? You know , like you are doing now. Before I cry about a story about Football players and their production, I would look at your own production for the company you work for. Ya I know some of you own your own. Most of you are being paid to produce for the company you work for. Not tweet or text your friends . Get the idea. An no I am not talking about the retired and so on.
August 14th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Joe,
Library card? What’s that?
August 14th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
I see where the anti-Tweets are coming from, but they simply couldn’t be more wrong (Steve K makes sense with the perception thing, but in this case perception is far from reality). Pro athletes have lives too, believe it or not. Think back when you were in your early 20s. Did you sit at him all day after work? I worked 2 jobs at over 70 hours per week, but I still managed the time to go out nearly every night and enjoy life.
If tweeting is the worst thing these guys do, then we are very lucky. I’ll take GMC tweeting all night over going out to clubs and making it rain. If it keeps them busy and out of trouble, then I hope everyone on the team tweets. I personally almost never tweet, but enjoy reading the tweets of the players at time (the only people I follow are people affiliated with the Bucs. It’s really. It a terrible thing as many believe.
August 14th, 2012 at 9:20 pm
“Joe”, no offense, but your “analysis” is kind of stupid. This *isn’t* strictly about time allotment—this is about fame, & whether McCoy has earned it.
Gerald McCoy has 30,000 twitter followers based on potential…but any time he tweets, he’s basically saying that he’s a star, & he deserves all those followers & many more. This new “no twittering” policy by the man DOES show a more committed mindset, because as he well knows, he officially hasn’t really done anything…therefore, by what justification does he have to be a Big Football Player With Many Followers On Twitter? I like this.
August 14th, 2012 at 11:06 pm
@Christopher,
I have followed GMC from pretty much day one, and I have never once seen a tweet where he implies he’s a star & deserves all those followers. In fact, he is incredibly humble in his tweets. I see where you are coming from, but your facts are completely wrong (unless I somehow missed a tweet that would be completely different from his normal tweets).
August 14th, 2012 at 11:08 pm
“So before most here call the kettle black , how many (and don’t lie) tweet or text on company time?”
Don’t tweet at all, on or off company time. I find the concept of sharing my every thought & action with the world bizzare & stupid. Along with the ‘fact’ that I’d be tweeting for an audience of one (myself). I can see it for a celebrity who has a following, even one who hasn’t lived up to the Hype, as you state GMC hasn’t. As long as he’s not doing it when he shouldn’t, I don’t give a rat’s patooty how often he tweets. The concept that he’s somehow supposed to be concentrating of football & being a better player 24Hrs a day is as bizzare as me tweeting, and would lead to his insanity, if he tried to follow it. We all need time off from any endeavor, and GMC (and all the other Bucs) are no different.
August 14th, 2012 at 11:09 pm
P.S. : the fact he has 30,000 followers says more about how stupid people are, in general, than anything about GMC
August 15th, 2012 at 12:16 am
Very well said Fritz50!
August 15th, 2012 at 12:19 am
Christopher:
“Waiter, I’ll have whatever this guy is drinking. Make it a double.”
August 15th, 2012 at 12:34 am
I am not a “follower” on Twitter.
Let him Tweet his heart out.
I just want #93 mean and productive on Sundays.
August 15th, 2012 at 5:41 am
No, I know how humble & subdued Gerald McCoy is, especially in a somewhat ego/macho driven profession such as football. What I’m saying is, by proxy, being a high profile player because of his draft status earned him most of his 30,000 Twitter followers…& being a high profile player genrally equals production on the football field. This has not happened, so the “bust” whispers are being bandied about. If Keith McCants had 30,000 Twitter followers 2 years into his mediocre career because he was such a high draft pick…& he kept writing to these people who expected he’ll be a good player…how silly would the whole thing look after 3 years of failure? This is what McCoy is trying to avoid. I’m sure a nice chunk of those followers enjoy his personality, not to mention the Christian thing…but it’s supposed to be because he’s gonna be good or even great. I just applaud McCoy for trying to actually earn such a large following…
August 15th, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Sorry Christopher, but that’s not what you said. It’s in writing, so its kind of hard to backtrack, but nice try. It’s okay to just say “my bad”. We won’t kill you for it. We all type stupid stuff. I probably do it far too often myself.